The Tree In My Backyard Poem by Richard Lackman

Each day as I go out I see the tree in my backyard
I think it is a pin oak and its wood is very hard
The tree was here when I moved in about 10 years ago
Since then it got much larger with new branches that did grow
Almost across the whole yard from the west side to the east
Though now that it's about full grown I think it's growing ceased

The tree is like a neighbor whom I've known a long, long time
It surely is a beauty and I'm grateful that it's mine
Sometimes I stand and study it amazed at what I see
I know that it's alive and wonder if it senses me
The longer I'm around it I think I can tell its mood
And whether it is doing well or needing more plant food.

In spring, it seems a happy tree with leaves of fragile green
In summer, it is fully robed and regal as a queen
In fall its beauty ages as its leaves turn red and brown
In winter, branches cold and still communicate a frown
But most times it seems quite content to spread out in my yard
Not doing more than living which for it seems not too hard

As humans I think there are lessons we can learn from trees
For starters how their splendor seems to put us all at ease
And how they give so much and ask so little in return
Whether sassafras or oak or just a tiny fern
Trees seem to always live their lives with dignity and grace
While changes in the weather they seem always to embrace
They shade the earth and clean the air and never create strife
Showing us what time has taught them to succeed in life